The article concerns a jeep left on NS track, apparently as part of a domestic dispute,and struck by an NS freight. I'm fairly certain that the picture is not of the involved train but came out of the paper's files. Can anybody identify the 2-6-0?

Mike Allen

http://www.thesunnews.net/policelog/436-Car_destroyed_after_being_parked_on_train_tracks.html

Angelina and Neches River RR #208 at French Lick Indiana

Isn't this the one they have been trying to repatriate to Texas for awhile now?

There is another thread here last year where we talked about the home made power reverse on this engine.

So what's happening with their efforts? Any progress being made? Their website does not seem to have been updated for quite some time now.


Les

Thank you. It certainly looks like pictures of 208. One problem though, every picture I can find shows A&NR 208 as 208, not 20, and I can't find a reference to a renumbering. Any other suggestions?
Mike Allen

That's quite the picture to grab for a grade crossing accident story. Wonder what they ran for MH370 - the Wright Brothers biplane?

I wonder if the newspaper, in their unending quest for journalistic accuracy, photoshopped the image and made 208 into 20?

This is #208 in French Lick. I know of no effort to renumber it. I don't know why the #20 is showing in the photo. I haven't seen it for several years.

As far as I know, I am the last fireman that fired this loco, and Bill Johnson was the engineer. We were "guest crew" about 1988? that worked a weekend in November towards the end of the season to allow the regular French Lick volunteer crew some rest.

After the first run of the day, I prepared my fire for the second trip, laying in a fresh bed of coal, injecting water, etc. About 10 minutes prior to departure, I checked my fire.........only to find out that about half of it had gone out.

I was confused.

I looked further, and about a dozen staybolts on the side sheet were spraying water into the firebox, putting my fire out. Bill climbed on the engine and plopped down in the engineer's seat, conversing to someone outside on the ground. He turned to me with a smile and asked "Ready?". I simply pointed to the firebox door and said "No". As "guest crew", we didn't know the details about the mechanical condition of the engine, but had been told that there were some thin spots in the firebox that would need attention sometime soon, and that the engine would need overhaul sometime in the future. That time came sooner than anticipated.

We got the GE 80ton center cab #3 and coupled it to the train, and backed #208 into the siding. The train left the depot about a half hour late, and I stayed behind to put #208 to bed.

As far as I know, it has never run since?

Never knew this engine was in service on the French Lick! ... though only the 97 was operable in the 80s. Cool beans. Great way to end a loco's career, eh?

Sad that neither of these engines are serviceable.

Mark -

Thanks for the report. We don't seem to get very much from the folks there in French Lick as I guess there are no members who follow RyPN. Good to have your news, even if quite a few years old now. Since you made at least one satisfactory run with #208, perhaps you could tell us about working the Mogul through the lines decently long tunnel. Did you work her through, or coast? I think I recall that the tunnel has a modest grade as I recall, but perhaps the roadbed is mostly flat. Thanks for any info you can recall from your "guest crew" day.

Les

I made several trips / several days with #208 as "guest" crew. I don't remember details, but think maybe 3 weekends each of two operating years???? About 1986-1988/89 era?? Maybe 5 operating days total?? That's my best guess. Anyways, the last day is my report given above.

My first lesson was to be careful when getting steam up in the morning. The railyard was next to the driving range in front of the hotel, and wayward golf balls routinely hit the engine. That range is now gone, replaced by the Casino (I've not seen the Casino).

For the uninitiated: The trip is 10 miles from French Lick to Cuzco and return. There is nothing except a small store at Cuzco. Normal train was #208 on the head end, four cars, and a GE 80 tonner on the rear for the return trip. Each engine did most of the work going it's relative direction, with the other giving a gentle nudge on the rear.

The route is a gentle grade (1%??) towards the center of the route, with Burton Tunnel in the middle, which is about a half mile? long. The grade was uphill through the tunnel to the crest on the "Cuzco" end of the tunnel (if memory serves correct....man I'm getting old!).

There was a log cabin about a quarter mile from the tunnel portal that was our "stop firing" point. The normal practice was that you'd try to have a full layer of fresh coal that had just started to burn by the time you passed the cabin, and have your water where you wanted it. Once you passed the cabin, it was "hands off".

The steam loco kept it's normal throttle setting through the tunnel, with a bit more push from the diesel to make the steamer draft slightly less. The conductor went through the train and requested "windows down". It would get hot, and a bit smokey, but generally wasn't too bad. We closed the cab windows and hoped for the best.

We (engineer and fireman) both got reprimended once by the conductor one day, who was also the GM of the railroad. Both of us had to "take a leak" really bad, and once in the tunnel and declaring it "clear", we both took our positions in the gangway between the engine and tender and did our business off of both sides of the loco. We thought we were completely "safe". Upon arriving at Cuzco, we were informed that the "mist" that some passengers thought was steam from the loco really wasn't, and that there was a telltale wet mark the length of the tunnel at window level. Oops.

On a more technical note, a few footnotes: The fireman's injector is a MONITOR brand, with screw type handles for steam and water. You had to hold your tongue right to get it to work, but it worked well if you made friends with it. The middle driver crown brass always ran hot, and we would drape a garden hose on the hub at the depot while refilling the tender with a firehose. Boiler pressure was in the 170psi range. The tender used was (and still is?) the tender from #97, as #208's tender was never restored. At French Lick the engine was a coal burner, changed from the original oil burner configuration it originally had. It was said that years of corrosion behind the brickwork led to the thin firebox issues.

Parents always take photos:

Postcard of A&NR paint:

Mark -

Thanks very much for your very interesting, and entertaining (!) story of firing #208 between French Lick and Cuzco.

A couple of sidelights:

1. I understand that the little store at Cuzco eventually closed its doors to riders who detrained there during the stop. Supposedly the owners got tired of providing bathroom facilities to riders. Seems like a rather dumb thing to do as the riders had to be a good source of income.

2. The car behind the engine in one of the photos is ex-Milwaukee Road and was one of the cars in an old thread on these surviving CMStP&P branchline combines. Wasn't sure if this car was used at all on the train, but obviously it was, at least on occasion.

3. The station there at French Lick served both the Monon and Southern railroads. The Monon, I believe, arrived first, to serve the resorts/hotels there and the Southern built their line later coming in from the other direction. The rail line used by the train out to Cuzco is strictly ex-Southern including the tunnel.

Les